The Journey

Due to popular demand and previous success (see
Travellers Feedback and
Photo Gallery), Etose offers both group and individual (personalized) tours to India throughout the year. Some of our most popular tours are listed on the left. Please do contact us if you wish for something different and we will do our best to meet your desires.

The tours
are a combination of visits to touristic places (“must
see”) as well as visits to remote villages. The latter should
give tourists an integral experience of rural life and empirically come
into contact with development initiatives undertaken by villagers who
are struggling and succeeding in improving the well-being of their
communities. Our mission is to inspire visitors to engage in a profound
exchange of information, experiences and possibly of financial
resources or skills where it is most needed.

Rural communities in India are steeped in folklore and
indigenous craft, and many of the less visited villages are holding on
to their traditional way of life. The local communities we will be
visiting will share some of this, as well as their cultural and natural
heritage with the tourists. The latter in return will take part in
promoting new and innovative approaches to develop sustainable local
livelihood practices in these low-income rural communities, with the
assistance of our local partner non-government organizations (NGOs),
namely Asia Initiatives (AI), M.S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and Ashta No
Kai
(ANK). The focus will be on attracting financial and in-kind
support for sustainable development-oriented projects that help the
environment and local people, and support community self-reliance. Our
local partner NGOs help by bringing in innovative, empowering solutions
to challenging social problems (loss of indigenous identity and values,
resource use conflicts, cultural deterioration, land-use disputes,
environmental degradation, unemployment, few income generation
opportunities, lack of education opportunities, youth migration to the
urban areas, etc.) at the local community level.

Etose provides
you with a real opportunity to participate in reducing the economic
inequalities that exist in the world today. This innovative and
conscious style of tourism will allow you to be of service to the
places you visit. Etose’s
founders have the development experience to select appropriate
projects, and throughout the years have already established
partnerships with local NGOs to ensure positive outcomes.